WilliamWalls

I am very busy lately but I did find a small window and started experimenting with my ship. I added 2 midsections (wrong collor, I know) and it's starting to look like a sixth rate warship. The gunports were build after those of "Achille" by EB-member "Perfectionist". The curve is not yet right, does anyone know where I can find an accurate plan or topview of a warship to improve it? WilliamWalls

I see some good ideas in this MOC! I like the combination of a brown and black hull mold, and the front constucted with hinges in layers! Making the side white is not only historically correct, but also makes decorating the interior easier (I used a combination of white tiles and special plates to make the interior white and the exterior yellow). Some suggestions: >Add a longitudinal curve in the white stripe, by that I mean: let the white stripe be lower in the middle that it is in the front and back. >Add gunports, black or white, as you prefer. >Make the deck brown or tan, with plates, or with tiles if you like. >I would leave the combination of black and white hull, but lower the deck in the captain's cabin (and perhaps the gundeck too), right now your captain is not be able to look out of his windows. Since it's still under construction, you might had planned some of these things already. Will you build this ship with real bricks? Keep up the good work, I would love to see it finished! WilliamWalls

Here you are: It's actually build upside down, so it only works well on tiled decks due to the studs, unless you use another wheelbase. It will look better with a red base I think. WilliamWalls

The brig version of Aurora was an attempt to make a nice, short ship, but I noticed not everyone liked it. The uncommom lenght/width ratio made her look plump I guess. I'm glad you like this version better. I have fine tuned the building technique with many hinges to give her the right shape, and I want to add as many details as possible. The wheel and bell are my idea, but credit for the grates goes to EB member Perfectionist (in my "planning version" I placed 1x1 plates upside down on a 6x6 plate to create a simmilar affect). I have seen both the 2 and 3 mast version and I think the 3 mast version looks better. The third mast will also look better when I add the back deck (poop deck I think it's called). That gear is an ugly thing indeed, but she does not come in different colors and I think that a gear articulating with the dents of the steering is the only way to make it functional. Maybe strings bound to the steering are an alternative. I thought of it while designing the captain's cabin. Because I'm so busy lately, I might not be able to update until February. But by then I will have the budget to make a decent frigat of Aurora (as I wanted in my first post). I'll make her even longer! I don't know yet if I will build her like the Grand Turk (which she starts to resemble now) or a historical frigat. Thanks for commenting! Regards, WilliamWalls

I must say: I ADORE this ship, just like the previous one you made. The shape is just right, the collors are great and they both excell with nice details like the headlight bricks in the side. Great work! When I have the time and money, I will build my own galleon. A nice decoration for the balcony at the stern might be this: Turntable 2 x 2 Plate, Base. (I will probably use it in my galleon.) Keep up the good work!

That's some creative use of parts in the bagpipe! You made a fine kilt yourself. I think you could also make a good-looking Scotsman with a redcoat torso combined with the legs from the highlander in collectible minifigures series 6 (due January).

I have added the left side of the ship. The following updates will probably come at a slower pace because the academic year has taken off and that means I will be busy studying the coming months. Maybe I'll build a longer version of this ship later, the frigate version if you like. The Aurora apparently was a sixth rate ship of war. Another project I want to build is a galleon, using the same smooth techinque and more decoration, but that will be for after the completion of Aurora. Comment is always welcome Regards, WilliamWalls Ps: @skipper: Paris was great , thanks

The coming five days I'll be exploring Paris, but before I leave I want to give you some new pictures of my ship under construction. She will be named "Aurora". She is becoming bigger than planned: I just wanted to add a third mast, I think it looks better this way. Did you notice the steering wheel and the wheels that retract the anchor? They all work! Regards, Willem

This is one of the ships that made me want to build my own. A true source of inspiration and motivation! I hope my "Aurora" will one day equal this refinement.

FIRST UPDATE: After some puzzeling and brainstorming I found a good way to use the round new stern mold. I sharpened the curve of the ship and added a side window. I think got the shape right this time. Next step is waiting for my BL order to build the other side of the ship, and then making another BL order for the stern I showed you an LDD model of some days ago. Here are a few pictures:

I had one new stern mold left, I am using that to make the ship longer, or at least I try to use it. The new molds are very unhandy to use as a stern since they are too round. To make the transition from a half-round stern mold to a flat stern I used hinges, however it still needs some fine-tuning. I also have some difficulties making the side window because most designs I made are too big to fit in the low side of the ship. Nothing I can't solve. Right now the side narrows to the stern from 17 studs to 12, the picture you posted came in handy. I myself use images from an encyclopedia written by John Batchelor and Christopher Chant, and animations from the videogame 'Empire: Total War’. I saw some pictures of the Lady Washington but she was not my main inspiration, I am not building a replica, although I am sure she has influenced some of the design. I also changed the capstan – already before posting the pictures –she is moved to the upper deck, resting on a frame, without too much decoration. Thanks for the comments everyone! As soon as I fixed the stern and sidewindow I'll give an update. Willem

Here is an image of the design for the back of the ship made in LDD, I'll order the bricks I need later on BL:

Excellent galleon! I especially love the round gunports you made with the life buoys. Great!

Hi, I intended to build a frigate but due to a budgetary restriction (series 5) I had to cut back my ambitious plans, or at least postpone them. I am building the brig with a simplified version of the new building technique I demonstrated earlier this month. I simplified the base (just some tiles) and the side is not build upside down. I hope you like it already. Comment is welcome. I used a golden goblet to represent the bell: And the first crewmember: a surgeon (works well with the blacksmith's outfit too) EDIT: I resized the pictures. I already changed the masts and the capain's cabin. Right now I am designing a round window to replace the last gunport in the side. The next BL order is on its way, it will be used to construct the left side of the ship. @Bjornu: I will finish the ship, only the plans are restricted to a brig, and not a frigate.

Thanks for all the constructive comment and advice! I understand it might be difficult to see what exactly I did inside the ship. I hope the pictures help. When I have some more time I'll make a more complete walktrough. The wheel behinde the back mast will be connected to the rudder by ropes and to the steering by an axle, so moving the steering will move the rudder. (The other pictures I posted on brickshelf earlier are from a castle I have build a few years ago with parts from hogwarts and lego castle sets before I discovered Bricklink. I did the best with the parts I had but it's not that nice, I might better remove the pictures.)

I would like to add some pictures but I almost reached the 100k upload limit. Is there a way to get a higher upload limit? I have a busy week ahead however next week I have a lot of spare time and I'll make a tutorial or something alike. The short version is: alternate headlight bricks and bricks with studs on one side at the base to create a smooth, stepwise longitudinal curve. Then I used hinges with clips for the vertical curving and regular hinges (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=2429c01) for the longitudinal curving. The side was constructed upside down so I could place small plates (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=4865) at the bottom that fit perfectly on the earlier constructed base. You can give the hinges any angle you like, as long as they fit the base, and the curving of the base depends on how many steps you used making it.

Hi there, After seeing pictures of beautiful ship as the ‘Achille’, the ‘Nuestra Seniora de la Conception’ and many others last year I started dreaming of building my own ship(s). The technique for building frigates shown by CGH on the forum works well: it is simple, solid and delivers a realistic ‘minifigure illusion ship’. In CGH’s model, the ship’s curve along the longitudinal axis progresses by steps of half a stud using ‘jumper bricks’ and I wondered if it were possible to make a ship that is even more streamlined. The last weeks I have been experimenting with all sorts of building techniques: hinges, slopes, even an ‘internal skeleton’ of Lego technic… Eventually I developed a combination of ‘headlight’ bricks and bricks with studs on one side to make the base of the ship. It is similar to GCH’s model, but is stead of making steps of half a stud, I made steps of ¼ a stud. I thought the technique was new, but just yesterday I saw another EB member building a ship with a similar base. However, the best has yet to come… By combining hinges in two directions (bricks with clips and regular hinges) I could make a very fluid ship, and after some fine-tuning I even could make it with almost no noticeable cracks. The difficulty is to fit the front and back part of the ship, where the side bends towards the inside of the ship, to the ship’s base because the double curvature of the walls makes them bend downwards (it’s difficult to explain, but if you try building it yourself you’ll see what I mean). I constructed the side of the ship upside down and used small panels that progressed stepwise to make the double curvature of the top fit the base. The technique is elegant and solid, there is no stress on the hinges, it works! It only is quite difficult to find the right angels that make the top and base fit. This is only a small experimantal 'practice' ship. I want to build a frigate, inspired by the ‘HMS Indefatigable/Grand Turk’(you can find some magnificent pictures of her on the internet). The pictures I post here are from a practice model, used for developing the technique, the frigate will be almost twice as long (so please don’t comment that the ship is too short, I know it is :)). The practice model also allows me to estimate the quantity of bricks I need to order via bricklink. I also added a smaller MOC that shows how I want to construct the inside of the ship, using white arcs, tiles and black ropes to hold back the cannon (in the definitive version the arcs will be spread a stud wider). That leaves me with two questions: shall I use a black base or a dark brown? And should I keep that yellow line (I’ll replace it by smooth tiles) at the bottom or make it black? EDIT: I added larger pictures.

Don't be too hard for the black pearl: a) it's a prelim picture b) many people had véry high expectations So far I have been dissapointed with the POTC lego: the minifigs are great but the buildings aren't special, I don't like the QAR either and the prices are too high, so until now I have been buying the minifigs online and building MOCs with those. (Right now I am in the middle of my examinations -still in college - but I will probably post some pics afterwards). I’am not too fond of the pearl either, but when you take a closer look you’ll see they did quite a good job, giving the limit of $100. I think it will look better in real, the captain’s cabin has hinges, which will make it look smoother and more elegant. Also the backmast is built with small technic tubes and not the large molded mast piece. I can understand they only used one hullpiece in the back because the new molds are too round for a schip’s back, although I would have preferred they made a new mold similar to the old back side mold, but separable like the new front molds. I was planning to do something similar in an MOC, the new mold just doesn’t fit in the back of a ship. 1) I have some remarks though: Davy Jones is awesome, but where are Pintell and Ragetti? 2) They only made two windows in the side, probalbly to prevent that it would look too large compared to the rest of the ship. I made an alternative that allows you to place three windows next to each other without it looking too large, I’ll post a picture later. With some modifications you could make a great ship out of it!